Baby Love
by lemnlime7
Summary: The day-to-day life of Saria as she raises little Link in the Kokiri Forest. Fluff abounds - beware of cavities.


A/N: Someone must have taken care of Link when he was really young, right? Saria seems to me like the one who would've fit the bill (and it would explain why they're such good friends too). So here's the story of their early days (with fluff galore).

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 **The Day of Meeting**

"Come closer, my child," the deep voice beckons.

The emerald-haired Kokiri steps cautiously forward. She stands in the Great Deku Tree's meadow, having been summoned here by a messenger fairy only moments ago. Being called upon by the elderly forest spirit nearly always entails a serious matter, and his tone makes clear that such is presently the case.

"I have a task of great importance to give thee, Saria," declares the Deku Tree, his booming voice reverberating throughout this sacred meadow full of verdant life.

Saria's eyes scan the clearing until she notices a blanket wiggling ever-so-slightly next to one of the Deku Tree's enormous roots. She also notes a fresh mound of dirt to the side, as if something had recently been buried there. A muffled noise emanates from the blanket. The sound is oddly familiar, like that of a young, helpless creature...

"Please, take this child, Saria. I sense he hath a vital destiny ahead of him that hath yet to be fulfilled. Thou art the one child of mine in whom I can trust wholeheartedly with this duty. I place the responsibility for this child's well-being into thine capable hands."

Saria approaches the wriggling blanket, picks it up and pulls away the folds to reveal something truly astonishing—a rosy-cheeked infant with incredibly fine tufts of short blonde hair, unbelievably soft to the touch! Being one of the older Kokiri at more than a hundred years old, Saria knows well that the gift of a new Kokiri only blesses their forest once every thirty or so years, marking this as a rare occasion indeed.

The baby's wide, curious eyes roam over every last inch of Saria's youthful face before finally smiling his approval. Just like that, the child wins Saria over, warming her heart instantly. She's filled with a sudden overwhelming desire—no, a _need—_ to protect this new arrival to her forest home. However, it doesn't take her long to notice that one essential component is missing from this scene...

"Where's his fairy?" Saria asks, incredibly concerned.

The Deku Tree seems reluctant to answer. "That is something, I am afraid, that he may never possess..."

Saria gasps in shock. Each and every one of the Kokiri has always had a fairy to protect them since the moment of birth. For a Kokiri to be born without one...what could this possibly mean?

"I trust thou will not treat him any differently in spite of this deficiency?"

"Of course not, Father," she promises. Saria then begins to leave the meadow, bundle in hand, until remembering something causes her to turn back. "Oh...by the way...does he have a name yet?"

"Yes...his name is Link."

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 **Link, age 9 months**

Saria uses a crude wooden spoon to feed Link a lunch of mashed berries she picked fresh that morning...or tries to, that is. Ever the picky eater, the infant boy turns his mouth away on every attempt. She then tries feeding him leftover mashed peas but the result is the same.

"Link, sweetie, you have to eat your fruits and vegetables," she gently scolds. Saria brings the spoon to his mouth once again but this time, having decided he's had enough of this silly game, Link simply swats the spoon from her hand and starts crawling away.

Saria sighs in frustration. One solution, she realizes, is to just wait until he's so hungry he'll eat anything, but she figures there must be something more humane she can do instead. After brainstorming for a few moments, an idea occurs to her.

"Open wide for the horsey, Link," she croons in a singsong way. Saria moves the spoon up and down in her best imitation of a horse galloping. He stares intently at the spoon as she cavorts it around wildly, apparently captivated by its strange and unusual movements. Saria delightedly celebrates an internal victory as she successfully manages to insert the spoon without protest into his nearly toothless open mouth.

As she watches him swallow spoonful after spoonful of the mushy food, she reflects on how every day has brought her something new to discover about the trials as well as the joys of raising this precocious young boy.

 **.**

 **Link, age 3**

"Wook what I can do, Sawia!" Link shouts excitedly in his high-pitched voice. He begins climbing a vine on the side of a cliff before Saria can so much as react. The vine suddenly snaps and Link plummets the short distance to the ground, falling hard on his back. He immediately bursts into a seemingly endless stream of tears.

By this point, of course, Saria is more than used to Link's troublesome adventurous side. Comforting him after some fall or injury is practically a daily occurrence. She walks briskly to his side to assess the damage.

"Looks like you'll just need a little tree salve for this cut, then you'll be right as rain," she assures him.

Saria promptly walks to her treehouse to procure the ointment, made from grinding a leaf from the Great Deku Tree and mixing the resulting powder with other organic ingredients. By some miracle no one has ever questioned, it has the capacity to cure nearly every malady that has ever befallen a Kokiri.

Upon placing the medicine on Link's minor wound, his loud crying begins to diminish. Eventually, nothing can be heard but a few faint, intermittent sniffles.

"All better now?" Saria asks with a warm smile.

Link envelops Saria in a warm hug before shouting, "Tank you, Sawia!"

Although it would almost seem impossible, somehow her love for this boy yet again grows even stronger than it was the day before.

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 **Link, age 5**

Saria is busy watering plants in her vegetable garden when Link rushes up to her, sobbing and clinging tightly to her leg for comfort.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" she ventures gently.

"Mido's picking on me! He—* _sniff_ *—he called me a 'No-fairy' again!" Link tries to wipe away his tears with a brush of his arm but the effort is entirely futile as new ones replace them faster than he can wipe them.

"Oh, that jerk!" Saria shouts in a rare showing of anger. "Will he ever learn?! I thought I already straightened him out on that!"

After taking a few seconds to recompose herself, Saria crouches down to get on level with Link. She wipes the tears from his cheeks and lifts his chin so their eyes can meet.

"Pay no mind to what he tells you, Link. He just gets a rise out of seeing you upset by what he says." She thinks for a moment, then adds, "Do you remember the story I told you about the ugly duckling?"

Link nods his head slowly in agreement.

"Do you remember how that duckling everyone always said was different and an eye sore eventually became a swan more graceful and lovely than anyone had ever laid eyes on before?"

He nods again.

"Just because you don't have a fairy now doesn't mean you'll never have one. And one day, I'm sure of it...you'll transform into something remarkable and everyone will look up to you and respect you—even Mido. You'll see, Link. You simply have to be patient. Just like the hungry caterpillar must bide his time until he turns into the beautiful butterfly, you must also wait patiently until your moment comes."

By now, Link's tears have dried up. He offers a hug and a quick kiss to Saria's cheek and she gladly returns the gesture. She then urges him to hurry off and play before it gets dark.

Although Saria avoids making any mention of it to Link, she knows the real reason Mido bullies Link more than anyone else... It's not simply because of Link's lack of a fairy but also, and most significantly, because of Mido's intense jealously for the puny newcomer stealing away so much of Saria's time, time which Mido had worked hard to earn from Saria and which he can't stand to see her give so freely to the little runt.

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 **Link, age 7**

A ball rolls toward the oversized hollow log at the far west end of Kokiri forest. Link chases after it until Saria's sharp cry of "No!" startles him into an abrupt stop.

She races toward him and grabs his shoulder to restrict further movement. "You can't go there," she warns sternly, shaking her head back and forth for emphasis.

"Why?" Link asks, dumbfounded. He's crawled through many a hollow log during his youth so the sense behind this arbitrary restriction escapes him. The only other place he's ever been told he can't go is the Lost Woods since, as the story goes, everyone who enters there will quickly become hopelessly lost and eventually turn into a hideous Stalfos. Although, in truth, that's never stopped him from sneaking away to comb the depths of that perpetually foggy place anyway...

"Because..." She sighs and gives a long pause. "As Kokiri, we simply must stay in this forest."

"Why?" Link persists, ever the inquisitive one at this age.

Saria hesitates at the thought of giving him too many details. She considers him to still be too young in mind to understand the meaning of death, the fate that awaits all Kokiri if they were to leave the safety of the forest. She doesn't want to make him fearful of the outside world by telling him such a tale either.

"That's just how it's always been. Kokiri must stay in the forest. We know very little of the outside world. We have no need to."

His eyebrows shoot up at hearing this, clearly intrigued. "You mean there's more to see out there? This forest is just a _part_ of the world?"

Saria sighs again, knowing she's already said too much. "We don't know for sure what's out there. Like I've said, all of us Kokiri must remain in the forest where we can be sure of our safety. From what Father tells us, the world outside the forest is full of vile creatures, hatred, wars, and other unpleasant things."

" _Wo-urs? Hay-tred_?" Link mimes, testing out these unfamiliar words.

Another sigh. "Don't worry about it, Link. We're safe from all of those things as long as we remain in the forest."

However, even as she speaks these words, Saria finds herself seriously doubting their truth... The sensation that Link is fated to one day leave this natural sanctuary just as the Great Deku Tree foretold inundates her thoughts and fills her with immeasurable worry and dread. As much as she wishes she could convince her dear Link to stay forever in the forest where she can protect him and ensure his lifelong safety, she knows the call of destiny is a much stronger force than even that of the closest of friendships. She realizes in this moment that one day they will have to part, so she cherishes each and every day with him as if it were their last.


End file.
